It's not really an agree vs disagree... Depends on the GM and gameworld. In my world, most farmers would have never encountered an orc and would see them as quite frightening. In the human lands, they may have heard stories about the "savage beasts", but that's about as much knowledge as a local would have about them.
On the frontier areas though, they may not be quite as exotic (though possibly still quite feared if there isn't a detente between the humans and the local orc tribe).
The reactions in a world with more interspecies socialization would probably be much different... and they'd get no more of a reaction than seeing a Latino, Asian or [East] Indian on the streets in the U.S. They're just another citizen going about their business.
Warning: Another Tangent Ahead
I'm very careful about including real world social commentary in my game world, but a more heterogeneous fantasy society could make for some interesting intereactions. What if an orc tribe on the outskirts of a kingdom were to raze a town killing all within, young or old? How would the other races view the orcs living lawfully within the kingdom? They may be regular tax-paying, law-abiding citizen in the country, but may then be looked upon and treated with suspicion. What if the PC were friends with or had a member of the race in question in the party? (It might not be orcs.) What if the king's guard started bringing in the race "for questioning" and they were either detained indefinitely, or cordoned off into "containment camps"?
Anyway, I don't mean to get too heavy, but human beings face forms of racism all the time in an "enlightened" society -- imagine how bad speciesism could get.
Postscript: If players have a pre-disposition to distrust a certain race (ie- orcs, goblins, etc), make the target race one of the "good" ones... Eco-terrorist Elves, fanatical Dwarves (ala Fight Club) or socially repressed Halflings. There are so many directions in which to take this idea. It could even be a set up... The village may have been purposefully attacked by mercenaries and the King (or other ruling class) just want to create a scape goat.
It's not really an agree vs disagree... Depends on the GM and gameworld. In my world, most farmers would have never encountered an orc and would see them as quite frightening. In the human lands, they may have heard stories about the "savage beasts", but that's about as much knowledge as a local would have about them.
On the frontier areas though, they may not be quite as exotic (though possibly still quite feared if there isn't a detente between the humans and the local orc tribe).
The reactions in a world with more interspecies socialization would probably be much different... and they'd get no more of a reaction than seeing a Latino, Asian or [East] Indian on the streets in the U.S. They're just another citizen going about their business.
Warning: Another Tangent Ahead
I'm very careful about including real world social commentary in my game world, but a more heterogeneous fantasy society could make for some interesting intereactions. What if an orc tribe on the outskirts of a kingdom were to raze a town killing all within, young or old? How would the other races view the orcs living lawfully within the kingdom? They may be regular tax-paying, law-abiding citizen in the country, but may then be looked upon and treated with suspicion. What if the PC were friends with or had a member of the race in question in the party? (It might not be orcs.) What if the king's guard started bringing in the race "for questioning" and they were either detained indefinitely, or cordoned off into "containment camps"?
Anyway, I don't mean to get too heavy, but human beings face forms of racism all the time in an "enlightened" society -- imagine how bad speciesism could get.
Postscript: If players have a pre-disposition to distrust a certain race (ie- orcs, goblins, etc), make the target race one of the "good" ones... Eco-terrorist Elves, fanatical Dwarves (ala Fight Club) or socially repressed Halflings. There are so many directions in which to take this idea. It could even be a set up... The village may have been purposefully attacked by mercenaries and the King (or other ruling class) just want to create a scape goat.